Abstract: The Hartley Burr Alexander Projects
Collection contains correspondence, newspaper clippings, photographs, architectural
drawings, architectural blueprints, and materials documenting his work as an inscription
designer. His construction projects include the Los Angeles Public Library, the Department
of Justice building in Washington, D.C., and Rockefeller center in New York City. The
collection covers the years 1929 to 1934 with the bulk of the material ranging from 1930 to
1933.

Collection Number:
D1943.2

Physical Location: Ella Strong Denison Library

Language:
English

Administrative Information

Restrictions on Access

This collection is open for research with permission from Ella Strong Denison Library
staff.

Publication Rights

Property rights reside with Scripps College. Literary rights are retained by the creators
of the records and their heirs. For permissions to reproduce or to publish, please contact
Ella Strong Denison Library staff.

Hartley Burr Alexander (1873-1939), educator, author, poet, philosopher, was born on April
9, 1873 in Lincoln, Nebraska and raised in Syracuse, Nebraska by his father, George Sherman
Alexander, a self-educated Methodist Minister from Massachusetts, and his artist-stepmother,
Susan Godding Alexander. His mother, Abbey Gifford Smith Alexander died when he was three.
After graduating from Syracuse High School, Alexander attended the University of Nebraska,
graduating in 1897 with an A.B. degree. Alexander began his teaching career in the English
Department before accepting the Harrison Fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania
(1898-1900). He then transferred to Columbia University where he received his Doctor of
Philosophy in 1901. In 1908 he accepted a position teaching philosophy at the University of
Nebraska (1908-1927), after which he became Professor of Philosophy at Scripps College in
Claremont, California.

Hartley Burr Alexander’s interests in philosophy, anthropology, and the arts synthesized
with his interest in architecture. Many of Alexander’s thoughts have been cut into stone in
the form of inscriptions and symbolic programs in several monuments of American architecture
throughout the United States. The most notable are those he created for the Nebraska State
Capitol in 1925, Memorial Stadium at the University of Nebraska, Rockefeller Center in New
York City, Bertram Goodhue’s Los Angeles Public Library, and several buildings at the 1933
Century of Progress Exhibition in Chicago.

Alexander’s interest in designing architectural inscriptions began in the 1920’s. In 1919
it had been decided that a new capitol should be built in Lincoln, Nebraska. Bertram
Grosvenor Goodhue was selected, and construction began in 1922. Goodhue’s design – Roman
chariots prancing on a roof – so offended Alexander’s sense of what was appropriate for
Nebraska that he wrote Goodhue with suggestions of more appropriate art. Goodhue was so
impressed that he hired Alexander on the spot to direct the artwork and write the
inscriptions for the building. It was during his work on the capitol that Alexander first
worked with the tile designer Hildreth Meiere, and the sculptor Lee Lawrie. Alexander later
worked with both Meiere and Lawrie on other Goodhue buildings, such as the Los Angeles
Public Library; the Fidelity Mutual Insurance Building in Philadelphia; Pennsylvania State
Finance Building, Chicago Century of Progress Exhibition; the City Hall and Courthouse in
St. Paul, the Department of Justice Building in Washington, D.C.; the Joslyn Memorial
Building in Omaha, Rockefeller Center; and others.

Several works were written by Alexander concerning his work on the Nebraska State Capitol
building, such as “Nebraska’s Monumental Capitol” in Western Architect, 1923; “Lee Lawrie’s
Sculptures” in Nebraska State Journal, 1923; “The Nebraska Capitol” in Goodhue Memorial
Volume published by the American Institute of Architects, 1925; and Nebraska State Capitol:
Synopsis of Decorations and Inscriptions, State Capitol Commission, 1926.

Alexander also worked on the inscriptions for the Ellen Phillips Samuel Memorial,
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; the Joslyn Memorial Building, Omaha, Nebraska; and the
Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Home Office Building, Ottawa, Canada.

Alexander died at his home in Claremont in 1939 at the age of 66. The memorial service was
held in Balch Hall Auditorium at Scripps College on July 29. Scripps College honored him
posthumously with the establishment of the Hartley Burr Alexander Professorship in the
Humanities.

Chronology

1873

Born on April 9 in Lincoln, Nebraska

1897

Graduated from the University of Nebraska with an A.B. degree.

1898-1900

Taught English at the University of Nebraska

1901

Received his Doctor of Philosophy from Columbia University

1908-1927

Taught philosophy at the University of Nebraska

1922

Began designing architectural descriptions for Nebraska State Capitol building

1924-1931

Designed architectural inscriptions for the Los Angeles Public Library, Los
Angeles, California

1926-1932

Designed architectural inscriptions for the Fidelity Mutual Life Insurance Company
Building, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

1927-1933

Designed architectural inscriptions for the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company
Home Office Building in Ottawa, Canada

1929-1932

Designed architectural inscriptions for the Joslyn Memorial Building in Omaha,
Nebraska

1930-1933

Designed architectural inscriptions for the Century of Progress Exhibition in
Chicago Illinois

1931-1933

Designed architectural inscriptions for the Rockefeller Center in New York, New
York

1932-1934

Designed architectural inscriptions for the Ellen Phillips Samuel Memorial in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

1932-1935

Designed architectural inscriptions for the Department of Justice in Washington
D.C.

1939

Died at his home in Claremont, CA. at the age of 66

Scope and Contents of the Collection

The Hartley Burr Alexander Projects Collection contains correspondence, newspaper
clippings, photographs, architectural drawings, architectural blueprints, and materials
documenting Hartley Burr Alexander’s work as an inscription designer. His inscription
projects included the Los Angeles Public Library, the Department of Justice building in
Washington, D.C., and Rockefeller Center in New York City. The collection covers the years
1929 to 1934 with the bulk of the material ranging from 1930 to 1933.

The largest series in this collection are Series 1, Los Angeles Public Library, and Series
2, Century of Progress Exhibition.